Writers on Oxford

Oxford has been graced by a number of Britain’s most famous writers over the centuries. Here’s what they had to say about the city.
“I wonder anybody does anything at Oxford but dream and remember, the place is so beautiful.”
William Butler Yeats
“She was not builded out of common stone
But out of all men’s yearning and all prayer
That she might live, eternally our own,
The Spirit’s stronghold—barred against despair.”
C.S. Lewis
 “Oxford is a city that is steeped in storytelling. It’s a place where the past and the present jostle each other on the pavement.”
Philip Pullman
 “I envy you going to Oxford: it is the most flower-like time of one’s life.”
Oscar Wilde
 “Oxford lends sweetness to labour and dignity to leisure.”
Henry James
“That sweet city with her dreaming spires,
She needs not June for beauty’s heightening.”
Matthew Arnold
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Image credits: Christ Church I; Lincoln College; New College; Bodleian; sunset; Christ Church II.